Over the last few decades negative air ions have been found to be an essential component of good air quality. These negative ions have been shown to have beneficial physiological effects on plants, animals and humans. Extensive research has concluded that abundant negative ions in an environment can enhance mood, improve metabolic activity, accelerate healing and increase performance in athletes. In addition, negative ions have been shown to have important air cleaning functions, such as removing harmful dust particles, remove odors and kill various micro-organisms.
Many conventional air ionizers employ a configuration of metal pins where the pins are a fixed part of the device and usually not easily replaceable. The pins tend to blunt with continued usage, since they are essentially functioning as sacrificial anodes. As the pins blunt, negative ion generation decreases significantly, resulting in insufficient negative ions being produced to be effective for their intended purposes. The rapidity of the pins being blunted means that replacement of the pins is frequently necessary thus adding to the cost and inconvenience of owning these products. This would mean that the effectiveness of the conventional ionizers with non-replaceable pins is over once the pins have blunted which can be a matter of weeks or months. Another area of consideration is the absence of modularity in ion generating devices. Common ion generating apparatus are designed for specific models or incorporated into other air cleaning products, making the ion generating devices more specific and limiting their usability across different markets.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,365,956 B2 discloses a generator for negative ions in the air at atmospheric pressure, in which two electrodes are respectively disposed in close proximity on either side of a barrier of dielectric material. The two electrodes have like structure, with each electrode having holes in it. The electrodes may both be of metallic mesh, or both electrodes may be deposited directly onto the barrier surface and done in a pattern, irregular or ordered, such that there are regions where the conductor is absent. The pattern may be a cross-hatch pattern.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,438,747 B2 discloses a negative ion generator that includes a flat dielectric layer having a planar surface and a plurality of conductive lines attached to the planar surface to define a plurality of ion-discharging points. A high-voltage generating circuit is coupled to the conductive lines for actuating the emission of electrons from the ion-discharging points. In one described configuration, a conductive mesh screen has a plurality of punched cutouts of different shapes.
Japanese patent publication JP 2004-167391 A discloses an electrostatic air cleaning apparatus of box-like shape having a base for fixing to an air conditioner main body, a high voltage power source detachably mounted under the base, a back cover, and a front cover with air inflow holes that fits over the back cover. A dust collecting electrode and an ionizer consisting of a discharge electrode and a counter electrode are housed in the back cover.
There is a need for an air ionizer that can produce an ample quantity of negative ions while controlling the generation of ozone. It is also desirable that the electrodes of an ionizer can be readily serviceable or replaceable so as to prolong product life. The present invention was developed in consideration of these needs.